Saed Hindsash/The Star-LedgerPatrik Elias (left) and Henrik Tallinder (right) were among those on the Devils' diverted flight home from Detroit.

Most of the Devils did not take the team plane home from Detroit after Wednesday night's game against the Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena. They chose to fly directly to hometowns or to vacation spots for the All-Star break.

Those who were on the flight probably wish they had made different arrangements.

During a winter that has produced numerous travel headaches, the Devils' flight home from Detroit was unable to land at Newark's Liberty Airport because of the snowstorm. So the flight was diverted to Newburg, N.Y., where the rest of the trip back to Newark was made on a bus.

Most players didn't get home until 5:30 or 6 a.m. on Thursday. That included Patrik Elias and Travis Zajac, who spent the night of the Dec. 26 blizzard in Elias' car stranded on Route 280 until 7 a.m.

"Another one in the books," Zajac said with a smile. "Obviously the weather has been pretty bad this year. We got back to the rink in the morning. It happens."

Zajac spent the All-Star break in New Jersey. Elias went to Raleigh, N.C., on Friday for the All-Star weekend.

"We had a couple of days to recover," Tallinder said.

Several players went directly from Detroit to Florida. Jason Arnott went to Miami.

Dainius Zubrus made it to Florida. But his wife, Nathalie, spent 36 hours at Newark Airport.

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Coach Jacques Lemaire, who spent the All-Star break in Florida, wasn't happy with the conditioning of his players today. So he put them through a practice in which they skated quite a few laps at the end.

"It's amazing what four days (off) can do to an athlete. Well, let's say to a hockey player, because there is a lot of stuff a hockey player has to do," Lemaire said. "Uh. It was like training camp today. My (goodness).

"I hope it's not only our team."

Will the Devils be able to continue the noticeable improvement in their play?

"It's hard to say. They come back today and I look at the guys. They had a hard time understanding the drills," Lemaire said. "They had a hard time (executing) the drills. I see they're not in good shape.

"I know how they'll be tomorrow and the day after. I know they'll get better than what I had today. I know that. A rest should be good. I could see the blue line (Rod Pelley, Tim Sestito and David Clarkson) as an example. They were the best today and I think that rest was really good for them because they've been playing quite a bit. They've been playing hard so they could've been a little tired."

Zajac said: "It was exciting to come back and get on the ice. It was a little harder just for having a few days off."

Defenseman Mark Fayne did not practice because he was ill. Colin White remains out with a lower body injury.

"Fayne is sick, so we'll see how he feels tomorrow," Lemaire said about playing in the home game against the Ottawa Senators. "But he's got to play. We've got nobody else.

"Whitey's not better. No news on Whitey."

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Nick Palmieri, Vladimir Zharkov, Mattias Tedenby and Mark Fraser are all back with the Devils after playing in Albany (AHL) during the break.